If your roasted vegetables come out pale or overcooked, you're probably putting them in the wrong part of your oven.

It may seem like a cinch, but truthfully speaking it’s not all that easy to perfect the delicate art of roasting vegetables. You could read all the "How to Roast Vegetables" stories on the whole g-d internet and still end up with veggies that are either overcooked (and nicely browned) or crisp-tender (and pale). This is a sorry state of affairs.

The thing is, if you aren’t equipped with a convection oven at home, you're already at a disadvantage in terms of achieving the roasted vegetable Holy Grail: pieces of veg with a uniformly golden-brown, crispy exterior and just-tender interior. Convection ovens help by blowing around hot air and wicking away moisture and steam, which in turn allows vegetables to brown more quickly and evenly. But fear not: Whatever kind of oven you've got, the "hard roast" is here to save you and your roasted vegetables.

Danny Kim

Nah, nah, nah, nah, nah, you must roast it! Roast it! Roast it good!

What is the "hard roast," you ask? Well, it's a technique that utilizes a very under-appreciated part of your oven—the floor. Essentially, you're turning the oven floor into a large, flat, high-heat burner, and your sheet tray into a large, flat sauté pan. When that sheet pan full of vegetables hits the super-heated oven floor—which, in most ovens, is where all of the heat comes from—they get an immediate hard sear which jump-starts the caramelization process, much as they would in a pre-heated sauté pan. Meanwhile, the ambient heat of the oven cooks them through, ensuring that they are tender throughout but not mushy. By the time they've softened just slightly, a deeply-charred crust has also formed. This technique works especially well for hearty, sturdy vegetables that can take an aggressive sear. Think cauliflower, broccolini, leeks, turnips, mushrooms, beets, carrots, parsnips, brussels sprouts, fingerling potatoes, green beans, cabbage…yeah, you get the picture.

Here’s how it works:

1. Preheat your oven to 450°.

2. Cut your vegetables into equal sized pieces. The key here is to be sure all your vegetables are roughly the same size so that they cook evenly. Shape isn’t as important as consistency of size here.

3. Toss said vegetables with the fat of your choice—olive or neutral oil, bacon fat, whatever—being sure all vegetables are evenly coated. Season with kosher salt and pepper. At this point you can opt to include other spices or aromatics that will compliment your meal. Add a few sprigs of thyme and some smashed garlic, or toss in some ground cumin and coriander, or curry powder.

4. Toss these vegetables on to a rimmed baking sheet and place the baking sheet DIRECTLY ON THE OVEN FLOOR. I hear you, that sounds wacky. Just trust.

5. After 10 minutes or so use a spatula, spoon or pair of tongs—whatever feels right, really—and move the vegetables around a bit to encourage browning on all surfaces. You will notice that any part of the vegetable that is touching the sheet tray has developed a beautifully charred crust. That’s what we’re here for.

6. Continue to roast on the oven floor, taking a peek every 5 minutes or so until they are roasty and caramelized and just al denté. This will vary according to what vegetable, what size pieces you are working with, and what kind of oven you have. That’s the beauty of this technique: As long as you keep an eye on things, it won't fail you.

So, there you have it. Perfectly roasted vegetables, using nothing but your oven, a sheet tray and the powers of observation to ensure that they are golden brown delicious every damn time.

Speaking or roasted vegetables, how about some cheesy zucchini and eggplant?